Free Republic

Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner has been arrested for extortion by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being held in Pulaski County Jail, the Associated Press reported Saturday. FBI spokeswoman Kimberly Brunell told the AP that Shoffner was arrested Saturday at her home in Newport and is scheduled for a federal court hearing Monday. Brunell said Shoffner was arrested on charges of "extortion under color of official right." Brunell said she would have more details Monday. The arrest comes four months after Arkansas Business reported that the Democratic state treasurer had been under criminal investigation for more than a year...

More than 100 people lined up to check out the handguns and rifles being auctioned off in Poteau on Saturday (May 18). The LeFlore County Sheriff’s Office auctioned off 264 weapons that had been confiscated and held in the department’s evidence vault. Sheriff Rob Seale said some of the guns were collected as far back as 1999. “A lot of them are weapons that have been seized in court cases that have been cleared,” said Seale. “A lot of them are just lost property that’s been found, property that’s been turned over by the owners.” The auction brought in potential...

The shoe drops. This mug shot of Democratic state Treasurer Martha Shoffner appeared on the Pulaski County sheriff's office jail intake page late this afternoon. (She looked a little distracted when I saw her looking over the cottage cheese in a case at Kroger's earlier this week.) Sorry: I originally called her auditor incorrectly. I have many calls out for more information. Shoffner has been under scrutiny for a variety of issues including charges of favoritism in handling of state investments with a securities firm and also in sloppy reporting and spending of state campaign finance money. She's been subject,...

Update: High temperature in Little Rock has hit 52. The incredibly late season cold snap is breaking numerous records for Arkansas. Nearly 5 inches of snow was reported in some spots in Northwest Arkansas this morning marking the first ever officially recorded snowfall in the State in the month of May. Cold temperature records are also falling. Little Rock set numerous records today including: - Tied the record low for the day of 41, set in 1929 - High of 52 tied the record minimum high temperature for the Month. The previous record was 52 set on May 2 1994....

Democratic leaders are wooing staunchly pro-gun candidates to run in pivotal Senate races at the same time they are discussing a strategy for bringing gun control legislation back up for debate. The two-pronged effort has prompted Republicans to accuse the Senate Democratic leadership of hypocrisy, but Democrats say it is simply smart politics. The question is whether two of the Democrats’ most promising potential candidates in Montana and South Dakota will pay a price for the leadership’s political maneuverings in Washington. Or will recruiting candidates who do not support President Obama’s gun control agenda have any effect on Democratic fundraising...

the Obama administration’s political appointees at the Justice and Agriculture Departments engineered a stunning turnabout: they committed $1.33 billion to compensate... The deal... was fashioned in White House meetings... the $50,000 payouts to black farmers had proved a magnet for fraud. the claims process prompted allegations of widespread fraud and criticism that its very design encouraged people to lie... Agriculture Department reviewers found reams of suspicious claims, from nursery-school-age children and pockets of urban dwellers, sometimes in the same handwriting with nearly identical accounts of discrimination. As a senator, Barack Obama supported expanding compensation for black farmers, and then as...

LITTLE ROCK, AR- The gun debate is not over. Lawmakers say the gun battle will soon be back on the Senate floor. That has some people worried, especially gun enthusiasts who say we should enforce the gun laws that are already on the books. The issue has divided the nation. At first, many called for a ban on certain guns and ammunition, now there are calls for tougher background checks. Donna Terrell talks with one mother, Regina Pryor, who knows about guns, specifically , one of the most controversial, the AR-15. "They call them assault rifles, but they are not...

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) - Police say one of their officers shot and wounded an armed burglary suspect Thursday morning. Sergeant Cassandra Davis says the man was one of possibly three suspects who broke into vehicles on 416 North Pierce Street just before around 5:40 a.m. Police found one suspect near University and H Street. Traffic was shut down in the northbound lane while officers tried to take him into custody. The suspect and officers shot at each other. The suspect was hit in the upper torso and hospitalized. At last check, he was listed in critical condition. No officers were...

Anyone remember Jerry Parks from the Clinton era? He was the head of Clinton's Arkansas Security and his 1993 murder was tied into White Water/Bill/ Hillary/ Arkansas/Corruption/etc Now almost 20 years later his son has plead no contest to the murder of his step father.Dr. Millstein Motive? A 500,000 life insurance policy Possible accomplish ? the wife of both murdered men? and the mother of the murdered Gary You can read about it here: http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20130402/NEWS01/304020026/Parks-may-not-acted-alone

The new Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Ark., will hold a dedication ceremony May 3 featuring the former President and his wife and ex- Secretary of State — but there’s just one problem for the snazzy new airport. “Locals are calling it the Hillbilly Airport,” one insider tells Confidenti@l. “And project managers certainly don’t want an airport named after our President called Hillbilly. In the South. How does that look to the world?” Our insider explains that when you depart the airport, you are met with huge signs that invite the public to “come meet” Bill...

For Anthony Weiner, the calculation on running for New York mayor is simple — it’s now or never. For Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, it’s complicated. Weiner, the former congressman from Queens who left office amid scandal in 2011, is looking at a comeback this year. He has ties to two of New York’s best-known political figures, neither of whom has spoken publicly about him running. **SNIP** “Weiner’s mayoral jousting will result in reminders to all that he came from Schumer and, by marrying Huma, is wed to the Clintons, something neither Clinton nor Schumer probably want etched forever into...

Probably the most bracing aspect of Ira Katznelson's new history of the New Deal, Fear Itself, is his portrait of the marriage of progressive domestic policy and white supremacy. I knew the outlines of this stuff, but for a flaming commie like me, the extent of the embrace is hard to take: Far more enduring was the New Deal's intimate partnership with those in the South who preached white supremacy. For this whole period -- the last in American history when public racism was legitimate in speech and action -- southern representatives acted not on the fringes but as an...

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 123 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 935 AM EDT THU APR 18 2013 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN ILLINOIS CENTRAL AND EASTERN INDIANA SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN NORTHWEST OHIO OHIO LAKE MICHIGAN * EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 935 AM UNTIL 500 PM EDT. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... SEVERAL INTENSE TORNADOES LIKELY SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH POSSIBLE A FEW VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE THE...

Arkansas plans to put prisoners to death with a drug that apparently hasn’t been used in a U.S. execution, and lawyers for condemned inmates warn that it could take longer for someone to die from it than from other lethal injection drugs. Arkansas Department of Correction spokeswoman Shea Wilson told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the state plans to use phenobarbital, along with lorazepam, in lethal injections. None are currently scheduled, but Arkansas recently passed a law that will allow the state to resume executions. … In a letter obtained by the AP, federal public defender Jennifer Horan told...

Just received the call. He will announce his candidacy Wednesday in Prescott at 7:45 a.m.

The Republican plan to block debate on Senate Bill 649, which requires background checks on almost all gun purchases and transfers, failed spectacularly Thursday morning when sixteen Republican Senators joined almost all of the Democrats to vote in favor opening debate on the bill. Among those voting to defeat the filibuster were 9 Democrats with “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association, and 12 A-rated Republicans (out of 16 Republican “ayes”). Two Democrats, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), joined the majority of Republican Senators who tried to prevent debate, much less a vote, on the bill....

Earlier this week I wrote letting you know that over 700 retired Special Forces signed an open letter to the United States House of Representatives demanding that there be a select committee be formed by Congress to investigate the attack that took place on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. Well, here’s something. Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) put forth a House Resolution to that effect back on January 18, 2013 and do you know where it’s gotten since that time? It’s languishing in committee. Rep. Wolf introduced H. Res 36, establishing a select committee to investigate and report on the...

http://www.thv11.com/ Tornado Emergency declared for Clinton, AR. WIll post NOAA statement as soon as it is published. Van Buren County, AR has a large vortex tornado on the ground being chased by AR Skywarn watchers

LITTLE ROCK, AR -- Little Rock Police are responding to a bank robbery just down the street directly west of the department. According to the Little Rock Police Department, the robbery occurred at Bank of the Ozarks located at 109 North Chester. Officers received the call at 11:40Wednesday morning, and say the suspect is a black male who stands 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build, wearing a white and bluecap and a white denim jacket. He was seen running eastbound from the bank. (Directly towards LRPD). Police say the suspect said he had a weapon, but never...

The Arkansas Senate passes a bill today that would defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business in the Natural State. “Arkansas Senate Bill 818, introduced by state Rep. Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch), would block all state funds from going to any entity that provides abortions or refers patients to other abortion providers,” says a report in the Huffington Post. “The bill would also prohibit any organization that contracts with an abortion provider or referrer, including power companies, water companies, health insurers or medical suppliers, from receiving any state money. Supporters of the bill argue that it prevents taxpayer money from indirectly paying...

“Hi,” she says, striding into the room with a smooth gait and a low, sure voice. “I’m Chelsea!” The handshake is confident, the eyes firmly fixed. With the ease of her father and the directness of her mother, Chelsea Clinton is stepping out into the world. At 33, she wears her political royalty in triplicate: There are her famous parents, of course, but also her mother-in-law, former Pennsylvania congresswoman Marjorie Margolies. After several years in the private sector (with McKinsey & Company, then with a hedge fund), Clinton has emerged onto the civic stage in her own right, graceful and...

Senate votes on climate change and the Keystone XL oil pipeline laid bare divisions among Democrats — and underscored why the White House, not Congress, will be where the critical climate decisions reside in President Obama’s second term.Several votes during the freewheeling debate over a nonbinding budget plan provided a political barometer of where the chamber, including vulnerable Democrats, stand on the topics. Advocates of the proposed pipeline scored a symbolic victory Friday when 62 lawmakers voted for an amendment backing the project to bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. Seventeen Democrats supported Sen....

<p>Don't know your pork butts from your rump roasts? It may be getting a little easier.</p> <p>The American meat industry is rolling out a refresh of the often confusing 40-year-old system used for naming the various cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal. That's because the system -- the Uniform Retail Meat Identification Standards, or URMIS -- was designed more for the needs of retailers and butchers than for the convenience of harried shoppers more familiar with Shake 'n Bake than boneless shank cuts.</p>

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas legislators passed a law Monday requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, overriding Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of the bill, which he called an expensive solution to a non-existent problem. The Republican-led state House voted 52-45, largely along party lines, to complete an override that started in the GOP-controlled Senate on a 21-12 vote last week. Only a simple majority was needed in each chamber. "We are trying to protect the integrity of one of the most fundamental rights we have here in America," said state Rep. Stephen Meeks, a Republican...

NEW YORK - Exxon Mobil was working to clean up thousands of barrels of oil in Mayflower, Arkansas, after a pipeline carrying heavy Canadian crude ruptured, a major spill likely to stoke debate over transporting Canada’s oil to the United States. Exxon shut the Pegasus pipeline, which can carry more than 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Pakota, Illinois, to Nederland, Texas, after the leak was discovered on Friday afternoon, the company said in a statement. Exxon, hit with a $1.7 million fine by regulators this week over a 2011 spill in the Yellowstone River, said a...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The Arkansas Senate voted Tuesday to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of legislation that would ban most abortions from the 12th week of pregnancy onward and give the state the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. There was no debate before the 20-14 vote. Beebe told legislators in his letter explaining his veto Monday that he believes the proposal is unconstitutional and conflicts with the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. But the bill's sponsor said after Tuesday's vote that he thinks the Democratic governor is wrong. "That's not valid. The U.S....

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas Senate voted Wednesday to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of legislation that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. The Republican-led Senate voted 21-12, along party lines, to override the veto. There was no debate beforehand. The bill's sponsor, Republican state Sen. Bryan King, said he expects the House to vote to override the veto on Thursday. Each chamber needs only a simple majority to override a veto in Arkansas. Beebe vetoed the bill Monday, saying it amounts to "an expensive solution in search of a problem" and would...

A study by the Society of Actuaries estimates that the new federal health care law will raise medical claims costs in South Dakota by 29 percent. Medical claims costs are the main driver of health insurance premiums. The study estimates that President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act will raise claims costs nationally by an average of 32 percent per person in the individual health insurance market by 2017. That's partly due to sicker people joining the pool.

Arkansas is currently trying to pursue a novel path for expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. They want to take the money and instead use it to get its population to buy private insurance on the new Obamacare exchange. It has been dubbed the “Private option.” The one big problem with this plan is that private insurance is significantly more expensive than public insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. This private option could be as much as 50 percent more expensive, but the Arkansas Department of Human Services released an analysis claiming the added cost would be much...

(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) -- Republicans may still get the last laugh after Arkansas Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe vetoed a bill requiring voters to present photo identification during elections. While GOP lawmakers said the legislation is intended to reduce voter fraud, Beebe argued that it was actually "an expensive solution in search of a problem." Since Republicans took over the Arkansas Legislature for the first time since the late 1880s, it's more than likely they'll override the veto with a simple majority. GOP lawmakers throughout the country have attempted to enact similar bills that Democrats contend is a blatant attempt to...

A Democratic senator claims impostors pretending to work for his office are calling people in his state to ask how many guns they own. Sen. Mark Pryor, of Arkansas, took to Twitter Friday to clarify that he is not the one behind those calls.

Despite all of the doom and gloom about the future of the Republican Party following the 2012 election, the reality is that Republicans actually have a chance of retaking the Senate in 2014. Those hopes improved on Wednesday as Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins said that barring a serious illness or another catastrophe, she plans to run for reelection. In 2014, Democrats will be defending a total of 21 seats, including seven states Mitt Romney carried — Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina. In contrast, Republicans will be defending 14 seats. All of those seats...

The Arkansas state Senate approved a measure on Tuesday to require voters to show photo identification before they can cast a ballot, sending it to Democratic Governor Mike Beebe who has not said whether he would sign it into law. The measure passed on a 22-12 vote along party lines in the state’s Republican-controlled Senate. It had already passed the Republican-led House on a 51-44 vote, with support from one Democrat. If it does become law, Arkansas would join the nearly three dozen states that have similar laws on the books, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. …

"Law sharpens the mind by narrowing it." --Edmund Burke . . Our governor here in Arkansas now has vetoed not one but two anti-abortion bills that made it past the state legislature this session. One bill sought to protect the unborn starting at the 20th week of pregnancy. The other would go into effect after 12 weeks' gestation if a fetal heartbeat could be detected. Both are now law, passed over the governor's objections. The Hon. Mike Beebe is ordinarily the most reasonable and agreeable of men -- even if he is a lawyer by trade and a politician by...

Governor Huckabee thanks Rand Paul for his principled stand during his 13 hour filibuster against the nomination of John Brennan to the CIA. Gov. Huckabee reminds us that America is a nation of laws. Check out this great video by clicking the excerpt link and share it with your friends.

During a brief address Saturday (March 9) in Benton County, Rep. Sue Scott, R-Rogers, discussed a plan to revive an amended version of her open-carry measure, House Bill 1408. The amended bill, which she referred to as a “baby step,” would protect those with a concealed-carry permit if their firearm inadvertently becomes exposed, as when the wind blows a jacket open, in unincorporated areas, she said. The amended version is expected to be heard Tuesday in the House Judiciary Committee, Scott said.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators is backing a bill that makes permanent a more relaxed set of U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition guidelines for students’ breakfasts and lunches in the nation’s schools. The Sensible School Lunch Act was recently introduced by Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark. The act fixes the latest rulings on meat and grain servings made in December by the Department of Agriculture. It will “make sure that schools are able to provide healthy, nutritious school lunches” and breakfasts, Hoeven said Tuesday. “But at the same time, that we have the common sense...

In the sharpest challenge yet to Roe v. Wade, Arkansas adopted Wednesday what is by far the country’s most restrictive ban on abortion, at 12 weeks of pregnancy, around the time that a fetal heartbeat can be detected by abdominal ultrasound. The law was passed by the newly Republican-controlled legislature over the veto of Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, who called it “blatantly unconstitutional.” On Tuesday the state Senate voted to override his veto by a vote of 20 to 14; on Wednesday the House enacted the bill into law by a vote of 55 to 33, with several Democrats...

The Senate Conservatives Fund announced Wednesday that it has made defeating Sen. Mark L. Pryor, Arkansas Democrat, its No. 1 priority in the 2014 election. “Mark Pryor pretends to be a moderate in Arkansas but votes like a liberal in Washington,” said Matt Hoskins, the executive director of the group -snip- Mr. Obama lost Arkansas by a 23.7 percentage point margin to GOP rival Mitt Romney in the 2012 election.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - Faculty and staff members in Arkansas are one step closer to legally carrying concealed handguns on the state's college campuses. The Republican-controlled Arkansas state Senate voted 31 to 4 on Monday to allow colleges and universities to decide themselves whether to allow concealed weapons on their campuses. The bill previously passed the Republican-controlled Arkansas state House 70 to 11. The bill now goes to Governor Mike Beebe, a Democrat. He is expected to sign the legislation.

BOONEVILLE – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating two more bald eagle deaths in Arkansas. The eagles were found in Logan County just south of Booneville. Earlier this month, an eagle was found shot near Highland in Pike County. That bird death is still under investigation. The two eagles in Logan County were found near the Golden City Church in early December and have been undergoing necropsies for the cause of death. Tests revealed that the two birds died of poisoning. State and federal officials are asking for help in solving...

People have been warning us for years that drilling for oil in the Alaskan arctic would lead to big environmental trouble. It’s not that the technology hasn’t advanced to the point where it can be done safely, but those nasty people in charge of the projects just don’t care about the environment. These Mother Earth Hating Monsters would clearly let the whole thing go to H. E. double toothpicks and ruin the pristine beauty of the wilderness. Well, I guess they turned out to be right. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has agreed to plug at least one additional...

The common media view of the South is as a regressive region, full of overweight, prejudiced, exploited and undereducated numbskulls. This meme was perfectly captured in this Bill Maher-commissioned video from Alexandra Pelosi, the New York-based daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Given the level of imbecility, maybe we’d be better off if the former Confederate states exiled themselves into their own redneck empire. Travel writer Chuck Thompson recently suggested this approach in a new book. Right now, however, Northeners can content themselves with the largely total isolation of Southerners from the corridors of executive power. Yet even as...

WASHINGTON — As the Senate prepares to begin debating new gun control measures, some of President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats are poised to frustrate his efforts to enact the most sweeping limits on weapons in decades. These Democrats from largely rural states with strong gun cultures view Obama's proposals warily and have not committed to supporting them. The lawmakers' concerns could stand in the way of strong legislation before a single Republican gets a chance to vote "no." There's a core group of Democratic senators, most but not all from the West, who represent states with a higher-than-average rate of...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas Senate is voting on legislation that would allow concealed handguns in churches, the first of several gun-related measures expected in this year's session.

The blogosphere has exploded with outrage in response to news that Walmart is suspending ammunition sales in anticipation of the Obama administration’s gun-control recommendations to Congress – but the retail giant tells WND the reports aren’t true. “That information is inaccurate,” said Ashley Hardie, a spokeswoman located at Walmart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. WND then asked whether the retail chain is cutting back on orders of ammunition. “No,” Hardie said. “We’re continuing to serve our customers as we have in the past.” She said Walmart’s ammunition sales policy has not changed, even amid talk of gun-control legislation in Washington,...

Wyoming lawmakers have proposed a new bill that, if passed, would nullify any federal restrictions on guns, threatening to jail federal agents attempting to confiscate guns, ammunition magazines or ammunition.

“I think you need to put everything on the table,” Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D, told ABC News‘ George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday, “but what I hear from the administration – and if the Washington Post is to be believed – that’s way, way in extreme of what I think is necessary or even should be talked about. And it’s not going to pass.” The Washington Post article Heitkamp was referring to, reported that President Obama would soon seek to pass legislation “that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national...

The Little Rock Police Department is investigating a weekend shooting incident on the city's west side after a store owner exchanges gunfire with suspects who tried to rob his business. It happened Saturday afternoon around 4:45 along North Bowman Road. A police officer on patrol said he heard two to three loud bangs before he was flagged down by several people reporting the shooting. Police say the 27-year-old owner of Urban Swagg said three suspects beat him in the head and face before tying him up and then tying up his 25-year-old girlfriend too. It happened after the men walked...

In response to a recent increase in crime, Paragould Mayor Mike Gaskill and Police Chief Todd Stovall offered residents at a town hall meeting Thursday night at West View Baptist Church what could be considered an extreme solution — armed officers patrolling the streets on foot. Stovall told the group of almost 40 residents that beginning in 2013, the department would deploy a new street crimes unit to high crime areas on foot to take back the streets. "[Police are] going to be in SWAT gear and have AR-15s around their neck," Stovall said. "If you're out walking, we're going...